Chapter IV: Part 4

The Deity, originally referred to, was the Sun: As he was the chief Deity, he must necessarily have been esteemed the supervisor and arbitrator of all sublunary things:

[376][Greek: Eelios, hos pant' ephorai, kai pant' epakouei.]

On this account the same province of supreme judge was conferred on his substitute Castor, in conjunction with his brother Pollux: and they were accordingly looked upon as the conservators of the rights of mankind. Cicero makes a noble appeal to them in his seventh oration against Verres; and enlarges upon the great department, of which they were presumed to be possessed: at the same time mentioning the treasures, which were deposited in their temples. [377]Vos omnium rerum forensium, consiliorum maximorum, legum, judiciorumque arbitri, et testes, celeberrimo in loco PRAETORII locati, Castor et Pollux; quorum ex templo quaestum sibi iste (Verres) et praedam maximam improbissime comparavit--teque, Ceres, et Libera--a quibis initia vitae atque victus, legum, morum, mansuetudinis, humanitatis exempla hominibus et civitatibus data ac dispertita esse dicuntur. Thus we find that they are at the close joined with Ceres, and Libera; and spoken of as the civilizers of the world: but their peculiar province was law and judicature.

Many instances to the same purpose might be produced; some few of which I will lay before the reader. Trophonius, like Chiron and Castor, was a sacred tower; being compounded of Tor-Oph-On, Solis Pythonis turris, rendered Trophon, and Trophonius. It was an oracular temple, situated near a vast cavern: and the responses were given by dreams. Tiresias, that antient prophet, was an edifice of the same nature: and the name is a compound of Tor-Ees, and Tor-Asis; from whence the Greeks formed the word Tiresias. He is generally esteemed a diviner, or soothsayer, to whom people applied for advice: but it was to the temple that they applied, and to the Deity, who was there supposed to reside. He was, moreover, said to have lived nine ages: till he was at last taken by the Epigoni, when he died. The truth is, there was a tower of this name at Thebes, built by the Amonians, and sacred to the God Orus. It stood nine ages, and was then demolished. It was afterwards repaired, and made use of for a place of augury: and its situation was close to the temple of Amon. [378][Greek: Thebaiois de meta tou Ammonos to Hieron, oionoskopeion te Teiresiou kaloumenon.] Tiresias, according to Apollodorus, was the son of Eueres, [379][Greek: Eueres], or, according to the true Dorian pronunciation, Euares, the same as the Egyptian Uc Arez, the Sun. He is by Hyginus styled [380]Eurimi filius; and in another place Eurii filius, Pastor. Eurius, Eurimus, Euarez, are all names of the Sun, or places sacred to him; but changed to terms of relation by not being understood. Tiresias is additionally styled Pastor; because all the Amonian Deities, as well as their princes, were called Shepherds: and those, who came originally from Chaldea, were styled the children of Ur, or Urius.

By the same analogy we may trace the true history of Terambus, the Deity of Egypt, who was called the Shepherd Terambus. The name is a compound of Tor-Ambus, or Tor-Ambi, the oracular tower of Ham. He is said to have been the son of Eusires, [381][Greek: Euseirou tou Poseidonos]; and to have come over, and settled in Thessaly, near mount Othrys. According to Antonius Liberalis, he was very rich in flocks, and a great musician, and particularly expert in all pastoral measure. To him they attributed the invention of the pipe. The meaning of the history is, I think, too plain, after what has preceded, to need a comment. It is fabled of him, that he was at last turned into a bird called Cerambis, or Cerambix. Terambus and Cerambis are both antient terms of the same purport: the one properly expressed is Tor-Ambi; the other Cer-Ambi, the oracular temple of the Sun.

I have taken notice that towers of this sort were the repositories of much treasure; and they were often consecrated to the Ophite Deity, called Opis and Oupis. It is the same which Callimachus addresses by the title of [382][Greek: Oupi, Anass' euopi]: and of whom Cicero speaks, and styles Upis; [383]quam Graeci Upim paterno nomine appellant. The temple was hence called Kir-Upis; which the Grecians abridged to [Greek: Grupes]: and finding many of the Amonian temples in the north, with the device of a winged serpent upon the frontal, they gave this name to the hieroglyphic. Hence, I imagine, arose the notion of [Greek: Grupes], or Gryphons; which, like the dragons abovementioned, were supposed to be guardians of treasure, and to never sleep. The real conservators of the wealth were the priests. They kept up a perpetual fire, and an unextinguished light in the night. From Kir Upis, the place of his residence, a priest was named Grupis; and from Kir-Uph-On, Gryphon. The Poets have represented the Grupes as animals of the serpentine kind; and supposed them to have been found in countries of the Arimaspians, Alazonians, Hyperboreans, and other the most northern regions, which the Amonians possessed. In some of the temples women officiated, who were denominated from the Deity they served. The Scholiast upon Callimachus calls the chief of them Upis; and styles her, and her associates, [Greek: Koras] [384][Greek: Huperboreous], Hyperborean young women. The Hyperboreans, Alazonians, Arimaspians, were Scythic nations of the same family. All the stories about Prometheus, Chimaera, Medusa, Pegasus, Hydra, as well as of the Grupes, or Gryphons, arose, in great measure, from the sacred devices upon the entablatures of temples.

* * * * *

TAPH, TUPH, TAPHOS.

There was another name current among the Amonians, by which they called their [Greek: lophoi], or high places. This was Taph; which at times was rendered Tuph, Toph, and Taphos. Lower Egypt being a flat, and annually overflowed, the natives were forced to raise the soil, on which they built their principal edifices, in order to secure them from the inundation: and many of their sacred towers were erected upon conical mounds of earth. But there were often hills of the same form constructed for religious purposes, upon which there was no building. These were very common in Egypt. Hence we read of Taphanis, or Taph-Hanes, Taph-Osiris, Taph-Osiris parva, and contra Taphias, in Antoninus; all of this country. In other parts were Taphiousa, Tape, Taphura, Tapori, Taphus, Taphosus, Taphitis. All these names relate to high altars, upon which they used oftentimes to offer human sacrifices. Typhon was one of these; being a compound of Tuph-On, which signifies the hill or altar of the Sun. Tophet, where the Israelites made their children pass through fire to [385]Moloch, was a mount of this form. And there seem to have been more than one of this denomination; as we learn from the prophet Jeremiah, [386]_They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire._ And in another place: _They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal._ These cruel operations were generally performed upon mounts of this sort; which, from their conical figure, were named Tuph and Tupha. It seems to have been a term current in many countries. The high Persian [387]bonnet had the same name from its shape: and Bede mentions a particular kind of standard in his time; which was made of plumes in a globular shape, and called in like manner, [388]Tupha, vexilli genus, ex consertis plumarum globis. There was probably a tradition, that the calf, worshipped by the Israelites in the wilderness near Horeb, was raised upon a sacred mound, like those described above: for Philo Judaeus says, that it was exhibited after the model of an Egyptian Tuphos: [389][Greek: Aiguptiakou mimema Tuphou]. This I do not take to have been a Grecian word; but the name of a sacred orbicular mount, analogous to the Touphas of Persis.

The Amonians, when they settled in Greece, raised many of these Tupha, or Tapha, in different parts. These, beside their original name, were still farther denominated from some title of the Deity, to whose honour they were erected. But as it was usual, in antient times, to bury persons of distinction under heaps of earth formed in this fashion; these Tapha came to signify tombs: and almost all the sacred mounds, raised for religious purposes, were looked upon as monuments of deceased heroes. Hence [390]Taph-Osiris was rendered [Greek: taphos], or the burying place of the God Osiris: and as there were many such places in Egypt and Arabia, sacred to Osiris and Dionusus; they were all by the Greeks esteemed places of sepulture. Through this mistake many different nations had the honour attributed to them of these Deities being interred in their country. The tumulus of the Latines was mistaken in the same manner. It was originally a sacred hillock; and was often raised before temples, as an altar; such as I have before described. It is represented in this light by Virgil:

[391]Est urbe egressis tumulus, templumque vetustum
Desertae Cereris; juxtaque antiqua cupressus.

In process of time the word tumulus was in great measure looked upon as a tomb; and tumulo signified to bury. The Greeks speak of numberless sepulchral monuments, which they have thus misinterpreted. They pretended to shew the tomb of [392]Dionusus at Delphi; also of Deucalion, Pyrrha, Orion, in other places. They imagined that Jupiter was buried in Crete: which Callimachus supposes to have been a forgery of the natives.

[393][Greek: Kretes aei pseustai; kai gar taphon, o Ana, seio]
[Greek: Kretes etekteinanto, su d' ou thanes, essi gar aiei.]

I make no doubt, but that there was some high place in Crete, which the later Greeks, and especially those who were not of the country, mistook for a tomb. But it certainly must have been otherwise esteemed by those who raised it: for it is not credible, however blind idolatry may have been, that people should enshrine persons as immortal, where they had the plainest evidences of their mortality. An inscription _Viro Immortali_ was in a style of flattery too refined for the simplicity of those ages. If divine honours were conferred, they were the effects of time, and paid at some distance; not upon the spot, at the vestibule of the charnel-house. Besides, it is evident, that most of the deified personages never existed: but were mere titles of the Deity, the Sun; as has been, in great measure, proved by Macrobius. Nor was there ever any thing of such detriment to antient history, as the supposing that the Gods of the Gentile world had been natives of the countries, where they were worshipped. They have by these means been admitted into the annals of times: and it has been the chief study of the learned to register the legendary stories concerning them; to conciliate absurdities, and to arrange the whole in a chronological series. A fruitless labour, and inexplicable: for there are in all these fables such inconsistences, and contradictions, as no art, nor industry, can remedy. Hence, all who have expended their learning to this purpose, are in opposition to one another, and often at variance with themselves. Some of them by these means have rendered their works, which might have been of infinite use to the world, little better than the reveries of Monsieur Voltaire. The greatest part of the Grecian theology arose from misconceptions and blunders: and the stories concerning their Gods and Heroes were founded on terms misinterpreted and abused. Thus from the word [Greek: taphos], taphos, which they adopted in a limited sense, they formed a notion of their gods having been buried in every place, where there was a tumulus to their honour. This misled bishop Cumberland, Usher, Pearson, Petavius, Scaliger, with numberless other learned men; and among the foremost the great Newton. This extraordinary genius has greatly impaired the excellent system, upon which he proceeded, by admitting these fancied beings into chronology. We are so imbued in our childhood with notions of Mars, Hercules, and the rest of the celestial outlaws, that we scarce ever can lay them aside. We absolutely argue upon Pagan principles: and though we cannot believe the fables, which have been transmitted to us; yet we forget ourselves continually; and make inferences from them, as if they were real. In short, till we recollect ourselves, we are semi-pagans. It gives one pain to see men of learning, and principle, debating which was the Jupiter who lay with Semele; and whether it was the same that outwitted Amphitryon. This is not, says a critic, the Hermes, who cut off Argus's head; but one of later date, who turned Battus into a stone. I fancy, says another, that this was done, when Ioe was turned into a cow. It is said of Jupiter, that he made the night, in which he enjoyed Alcmena, as long as [394]three; or, as some say, as long as nine. The Abbe [395]Banier with some phlegm excepts to this coalition of nights; and is unwilling to allow it. But he is afterwards more complying; and seems to give it his sanction, with this proviso, that chronological verity be not thereby impeached. _I am of opinion_, says he, _that there was no foundation for the fable of Jupiter's having made the night, on which he lay with Alcmena, longer than others: at least this event put nothing in nature out of order; since the day, which followed, was proportionably shorter, as Plautus [396]remarks._

Atque quanto nox fuisti longior hac proxima,
Tanto brevior dies ut fiat, faciam; ut aeque disparet,
Et dies e nocte accedat.

Were it not invidious, I could subjoin names to every article, which I have alleged; and produce numberless instances to the same purpose.

It may be said, that I run counter to the opinions of all antiquity: that all the fathers who treated of this subject, and many other learned men, supposed the Gods of the heathen to have been deified mortals, who were worshipped in the countries, where they died. It was the opinion of Clemens, Eusebius, Cyril, Tertullian, Athenagoras, Epiphanius, Lactantius, Arnobius, Julius Firmicus, and many others. What is more to the purpose, it was the opinion of the heathen themselves; the very people, by whom these gods were honoured: yet still it is a mistake. In respect to the fathers, the whole of their argument turns upon this point, the concessions of the Gentiles. The more early writers of the church were not making a strict chronological inquiry: but were labouring to convert the heathen. They therefore argue with them upon their own principles; and confute them from their own testimony. The Romans had their Dii Immortales; the Greeks their [Greek: Theoi Athanatoi]: yet acknowledged that they had been men; that they died, and were buried. Cicero owns; [397]ab Euhemero et mortes, et sepulturae demonstrantur deorum. It matters not whether the notion were true; the fathers very fairly make use of it. They avail themselves of these concessions; and prove from them the absurdity of the Gentile worship, and the inconsistency of their opinions. Even Maximus Tyrius, the Platonic, could not but smile, at being shewn in the same place the temple, and tomb of the deity[398]; [Greek: hieron Theou, kai taphon Theou]. These supposed places of sepulture were so numerous, that Clemens Alexandrinus tells us, they were not to be counted. [399][Greek: Alla gar epionti moi tous proskunoumenous humin taphous, emoi men oud' ho pas an arkesei chronos.] But, after all, these [Greek: Taphoi] were not tombs, but [Greek: lophoi mastoeideis], conical mounds of earth; on which in the first ages offerings were made by fire. Hence [Greek: tupho], tupho, signified to make a smoke, such as arose from incense upon these Tupha, or eminences. Besides, if these were deified men, who were buried under these hills; how can we explain the difficulty of the same person being buried in different places, and at different times? To this it is answered, that it was another Bacchus, and another Jupiter. Yet this still adds to the difficulty: for it is hard to conceive, that whoever in any country had the name of Jupiter, should be made a God. Add to this, that Homer and Hesiod, and the authors of the Orphic poetry, knew of no such duplicates. There is no hint of this sort among the antient writers of their nation. It was a refinement in after ages; introduced to obviate the difficulties, which arose from the absurdities in the pagan system. Arnobius justly ridicules the idle expedients, made use of to render a base theology plausible. Gods, of the same name and character, were multiplied to make their fables consistent; that there might be always one ready at hand upon any chronological emergency. Hence no difficulty could arise about a Deity, but there might be one produced, adapted to all climes, and to every age. [400]Aiunt Theologi vestri, et vetustatis absconditae conditores, tres in rerum natura Joves esse--quinque Soles, et Mercurios quinque. Aiunt iidem Theologi quatuor esse Vulcanos, et tres Dianas; AEsculapios totidem, et Dionysos quinque; ter binos Hercules, et quatuor Veneres; tria genera Castorum, totidemque Musarum. But Arnobius is too modest. Other writers insist upon a greater variety. In respect to Jupiters, Varro according to Tertullian makes them in number three hundred. [401]Varro trecentos Joves, sive Jupiteres, dicendum, ---- introducit. The same writer mentions forty heroes of the name of Hercules; all which variety arose from the causes above assigned: and the like multiplicity may be found both of kings and heroes; of kings, who did not reign; of heroes, who never existed. The same may be observed in the accounts transmitted of their most early prophets, and poets: scarce any of them stand single: there are duplicates of every denomination. On this account it is highly requisite for those, who suppose these personages to have been men, and make inferences from the circumstances of their history, to declare explicitly which they mean; and to give good reasons for their determination. It is said of Jupiter, that he was the son of Saturn; and that he carried away Europa, before the arrival of Cadmus. He had afterwards an amour with Semele, the supposed daughter of Cadmus: and they mention his having a like intimacy with Alcmena an age or two later. After this he got acquainted with Leda, the wife of Tyndarus: and he had children at the siege of Troy. If we may believe the poets, and all our intelligence comes originally from the poets, Jupiter was personally interested in that war. But this interval contains little less than two hundred years. These therefore could not be the actions of one man: on which account I want to know, why Sir Isaac Newton [402]in his chronological interpretations chooses to be determined by the story of Jupiter and Europa, rather than by that of Jupiter and Leda. The learned [403]Pezron has pitched upon a Jupiter above one thousand years earlier, who was in like manner the son of Saturn. But Saturn, according to some of the best mythologists, was but four generations inclusive before the aera of Troy. Latinus, the son of Faunus, was alive some years after that city had been taken; when AEneas was supposed to have arrived in Italy. The poet tells us, [404]Fauno Picus pater: isque parentem Te, Saturne, refert; Tu sanguinis ultimus auctor. The series amounts only to four, Latinus, Faunus, Picus, Saturn. What authority has Pezron for the anticipation of which he is guilty in determining the reign of Jupiter? and how can he reconcile these contradictory histories? He ought to have given some good reason for setting aside the more common and accepted accounts; and placing these events so [405]early. Shall we suppose with the critics and commentators that this was a prior Jupiter? If it were a different person, the circumstances of his life should be different: but the person, of whom he treats, is in all respects similar to the Jupiter of Greece and Rome. He has a father Saturn; and his mother was Rhea. He was nursed in Crete; and had wars with the Titans. He dethrones his father, who flies to Italy; where he introduces an age of gold. The mythology concerning him we find to be in all respects uniform. It is therefore to little purpose to substitute another person of the same name by way of reconciling matters, unless we can suppose that every person so denominated had the same relations and connexions, and the same occurrences in life reiterated: which is impossible. It is therefore, I think, plain, that the Grecian Deities were not the persons [406]supposed: and that their imputed names were titles. It is true, a very antient and respectable writer, [407]Euhemerus, of whom I have before made mention, thought otherwise. It is said, that he could point out precisely, where each god departed: and could particularly shew the burying-place of Jupiter. Lactantius, who copied from him, says, that it was at Cnossus in [408]Crete. Jupiter, aetate pessum acta, in Creta vitam commutavit.--Sepulchrum ejus est in Creta, et in oppido Cnosso: et dicitur Vesta hanc urbem creavisse: inque sepulchro ejus est inscriptio antiquis literis Graecis, [Greek: Zan Kronou]. If Jupiter had been buried in Crete, as these writers would persuade us, the accounts would be uniform about the place where he was deposited. Lactantius, we find, and some others, say, that it was in the city Cnossus. There are writers who mention it to have been in a cavern upon [409]Mount Ida: others upon Mount [410]Jasius. Had the Cretans been authors of the notion, they would certainly have been more consistent in their accounts: but we find no more certainty about the place of his burial, than of his birth; concerning which Callimachus could not determine.

[411][Greek: Zeu, se men Idaioisin en ouresi phasi genesthai,]
[Greek: Zeu, se d' en Arkadiei.]

He was at times supposed to have been a native of Troas, of Crete, of Thebes, of Arcadia, of Elis: but the whole arose from the word [Greek: taphos] being, through length of time, misunderstood: for there would have been no legend about the birth of Jupiter, had there been no mistake about his funeral. It was a common notion of the Magnesians, that Jupiter was buried in their country upon Mount Sipylus. Pausanias says, that he ascended the mountain, and beheld the tomb, which was well worthy of [412]admiration. The tomb of [413]Isis in like manner was supposed to be at Memphis, and at Philae in Upper Egypt: also at Nusa in Arabia. Osiris was said to have been buried in the same places: likewise at Taphosiris, which is thought by Procopius to have had its name, [414]because it was the place of sepulture of Osiris. The same is said of another city, which was near the mouth of the Nile, and called Taphosiris parva. But they each of them had their name from the worship, and not from the interment of the Deity. This is plain from the account given of the [Greek: taphos Osiridos], or high altar of Osiris, by Diodorus; from whom we learn that Busiris and Osiris were the same. [415]_The Grecians_, says this author, _have a notion, that Busiris in Egypt used to sacrifice strangers: not that there was ever such a king as Busiris; but the_ [Greek: taphos], _or altar, of Osiris had this name in the language of the natives_. In short, Busiris was only a variation for Osiris: both were compounded of the Egyptian term [416]Sehor, and related to the God of day. Hence the altars of the same Deity were called indifferently the altars of Osiris, or Busiris, according as custom prevailed.

I have in a former chapter taken notice of the Tarchons and Dracontia in Syria, and other parts: which consisted of sacred ground inclosed with a wall, and an altar or two at the upper part. Such an inclosure is described by Pausanias, which must have been of great antiquity: hence the history of it was very imperfectly known in his time. He is speaking of Nemea in Argolis; [417]_near which_, says he, _stands the temple of Nemean Jupiter, a structure truly wonderful, though the roof is now fallen in. Round the temple is a grove of cypress; in which there is a tradition that Opheltes was left by his nurse upon the grass, and in her absence killed by a serpent.--In the same place is the tomb of Opheltes, surrounded with a wall of stone; and within the inclosure altars. There is also a mound of earth said to be the tomb of Lycurgus, the father of Opheltes._ Lycurgus is the same as Lycus, Lycaon, Lycoreus, the Sun: and Opheltes, his supposed offspring, is of the same purport. To say the truth, [418]Opheltes, or, as it should be expressed, Ophel-tin is the place; and Ophel the Deity, Sol Pytho, whose symbol was a serpent. Ophel-tin was a Taphos with a [Greek: temenos], or sacred inclosure: it was a sacred mound to the Ophite Deity; like that which was inclosed and fortified by [419]Manasseh king of Judah; and which had been previously made use of to the same purpose by [420]Jotham. A history similar to that of Opheltes is given of Archemorus; who was said to have been left in a garden by his nurse Hypsipyle, and in her absence slain by a serpent. Each of them had festivals instituted, together with sacred games, in memorial of their misfortune. They are on this account by many supposed to have been the same person. But in reality they were not persons, but places. They are, however, so far alike, as they are terms which relate to the same worship and Deity. Opheltin is the place, and altar of the Ophite God above-mentioned: and Archemorus was undoubtedly the antient name of the neighbouring town, or city. It is a compound of Ar-Chemorus; and signifies the city of Cham-Orus, the same who is styled Ophel. In many of these places there was an antient tradition of some person having been injured by a serpent in the beginning of life; which they have represented as the state of childhood. The mythology upon this occasion is different: for sometimes the personages spoken of are killed by the serpent: at other times they kill it: and there are instances where both histories are told of the same person. But whatever may have been the consequence, the history is generally made to refer to a state of childhood. Hercules has accordingly a conflict with two serpents in his cradle: and Apollo, who was the same as Python, was made to engage a serpent of this name at Parnassus, when he was a child;

[421][Greek: Kouros, eon, ETI GYMNOS, eti plokamoisi gegethos.]

Near mount Cyllene in Arcadia was the sacred Taphos of [422]AEputus, who was supposed to have been stung by a serpent. AEputus was the same as Iapetus, the father of mankind. In the Dionusiaca the priests used to be crowned with serpents; and in their frantic exclamations to cry out [423]Eva, Eva; and sometimes Evan, Evan: all which related to some history of a serpent. Apollo, who is supposed by most to have been victor in his conflict with the Pytho, is by Porphyry said to have been slain by that serpent: Pythagoras affirmed, that he saw his tomb at Tripos in [424]Delphi; and wrote there an epitaph to his honour. The name of Tripos is said to have been given to the place, because the daughters of Triopus used to lament there the fate of Apollo. But Apollo and the Python were the same; and Tripus, or Triopus, the supposed father of these humane sisters, was a variation for Tor-Opus, the serpent-hill, or temple; where neither Apollo, nor the Python were slain, but where they were both worshipped, being one and the same Deity. [425][Greek: Puthoi men oun ho Drakon ho Puthios threskeuetai, kai tou Opheos he paneguris katangelletai Puthia.] _At Python_ (the same as Delphi) _the Pythian Dragon is worshipped; and the celebrity of the serpent is styled Pythian_. The daughters of Triopus were the priestesses of the temple; whose business it was to chant hymns in memory of the serpent: and what is very remarkable, the festival was originally observed upon the seventh [426]day.

The Greeks had innumerable monuments of the sort, which I have been describing. They were taken for the tombs of departed heroes, but were really consecrated places: and the names by which they were distinguished, shew plainly their true history. Such was the supposed tomb of [427]Orion at Tanagra, and of Phoroneus in [428]Argolis; the tomb of [429]Deucalion in Athens; and of his wife [430]Pyrrha in Locris: of [431]Endymion in Elis: of Tityus in [432]Panopea: of Asterion in the island [433]Lade: of the Egyptian [434]Belus in Achaia. To these may be added the tombs of Zeus in Mount Sipylus, Mount Iasius, and Ida: the tombs of Osiris in various parts: and those of Isis, which have been enumerated before. Near the AEaceum at Epidaurus was a hill, reputed to have been the tomb of the hero [435]Phocus. This AEaceum was an inclosure planted with olive trees of great antiquity; and at a small degree above the surface of the ground was an altar sacred to AEacus. To divulge the traditions relative to this altar would, it seems, be an high profanation. The author, therefore, keeps them a secret. Just before this sacred septum was the supposed tomb of Phocus, consisting of a mound of raised earth, fenced round with a border of stone work: and a large rough stone was placed upon the top of all. Such were the rude monuments of Greece, which were looked upon as so many receptacles of the dead: but were high altars, with their sacred [Greek: temene], which had been erected for divine worship in the most early times. The Helladians, and the Persians, were of the same [436]family: hence we find many similar rites subsisting among the two nations. The latter adhered to the purer Zabaism, which they maintained a long time. They erected the same sacred Tupha, as the Grecians: and we may be assured of the original purpose, for which these hills were raised, from the use to which they put them. They were dedicated to the great fountain of light, called by the Persians, Anait: and were set apart as Puratheia, for the celebration of the rites of fire. This people, after they had defeated the Sacae in Cappadocia, raised an immense Comah in memorial of their victory. [437]Strabo, who describes it very minutely, tells us, that they chose a spot in an open plain; where they reared a Petra, or high place, by heaping up a vast mound of earth. This they fashioned to a conical figure; and then surrounded it with a wall of stone. In this manner they founded a kind of temple in honour of Anait, Omanus, and Anandrates, the Deities of their country. I have mentioned that the Egyptians had hills of this nature: and from them the custom was transmitted to Greece. Typhon, or more properly Tuphon, [Greek: Tuphon], who was supposed to have been a giant, was a compound of Tuph-On, as I have before mentioned; and signified a sacred [438]mount of the sun. Those cities in Egypt, which had a high place of this sort, and rites in consequence of it, were styled Typhonian. Upon such as these they sacrificed red haired men, or men with hair of a light colour; in other words strangers. For both the sons of Chus, and the Mizraim were particularly dark and woolly: so that there could be no surer mark than the hair to distinguish between a native and a foreigner. These sacrifices were offered in the city [439]Idithia, [440]Abaris, [441]Heliopolis, and Taphosiris; which in consequence of these offerings were denominated Typhonian cities. Many writers say, that these rites were performed to Typhon at the [442]tomb of Osiris. Hence he was in later times supposed to have been a person, one of immense size: and he was also esteemed a [443]God. But this arose from the common mistake by which places were substituted for the Deities there worshipped. Typhon was the Tupha, or altar, the supposed tomb of the God: and the offerings were made to the Sun, styled On; the same as Osiris, and Busiris. As there were Typhonian mounts in many parts, he was in consequence of it supposed to have been buried in different places: near mount Caucasus in Colchis; near the river Orontes in Syria; and under lake Serbonis. Typhon, or rather Typhonian worship, was not unknown in the region of [444]Troas, near which were the Scopuli Typhonis. Plutarch mentions that in the Phrygian Theology Typhon was esteemed the grandson of Isaac or Isaeac: and says that he was so spoken of [Greek: en tois Phrugiois] [445][Greek: grammasin]. But all terms of relation are to be disregarded. The purport of the history was this. The altar was termed Tuphon Isiac, sive [Greek: Bomos Isiakos], from the sacra Isiaca, which were performed upon it. The same Isaac or Isaeac was sometimes rendered AEsacus, and supposed to have been a son of the river Granicus.

[446]AEsacon umbrosa furtim peperisse sub Ida
Fertur Alexirhoe Granico nata bicorni.

The antient Arcadians were said to have been the offspring of [447]Typhon, and by some the children of Atlas; by which was meant, that they were people of the Typhonian, and Atlantian religion. What they called his tombs were certainly mounds of earth, raised very high, like those which have been mentioned before: only with this difference, that some of these had lofty towers adorned with pinnacles, and battlements. They had also carved upon them various symbols; and particularly serpentine hieroglyphics, in memorial of the God to whom they were sacred. In their upper story was a perpetual fire, which was plainly seen in the night. I have mentioned, that the poets formed their notions about Otus and Ephialtes from towers: and the idea of Orion's stupendous bulk taken from the Pelorian edifice in Sicily. The gigantic stature of Typhon was borrowed from a like object: and his character was formed from the hieroglyphical representations in the temples styled Typhonian. This may be inferred from the allegorical description of Typhoeus, given by Hesiod. Typhon and Typhoeus, were the same personage: and the poet represents him of a mixed form, being partly a man, and partly a monstrous dragon, whose head consisted of an assemblage of smaller serpents.

[448][Greek: Ek de hoi omon]
[Greek: En hekaton kephalai ophios, deinoio Drakontos.]

As there was a perpetual fire kept up in the upper story, he describes it as shining through the apertures in the building.

[449][Greek: Ek de hoi osson]
[Greek: Thespesieis kephaleisin hup' ophrusi pur amarusse;]
[Greek: Paseon d' ek kephaleon pur kaieto derkomenoio.]

But the noblest description of Typhon is given in some very fine poetry by Nonnus. He has taken his ideas from some antient tower situated near the sea upon the summit of an high mountain. It was probably the Typhonian temple of Zeus upon mount Casius, near the famed Serbonian lake. He mentions sad noises heard within, and describes the roaring of the surge below: and says that all the monsters of the sea stabled in the cavities at the foot of the mountain, which was washed by the ocean.

[450][Greek: En ichthuoenti de pontoi]
[Greek: Histamenou Tuphonos eso bruoentos enaulou]
[Greek: Benthei tarsa pepekto, kai eeri mignuto gaster]
[Greek: Thlibomene nepheessi; Giganteiou de karenou]
[Greek: Phrikton aersilophon aion bruchema leonton,]
[Greek: Pontios eiluoenti leon ekalupteto kolpoi. ktl.]

We may perceive, that this is a mixed description, wherein, under the character of a gigantic personage, a towering edifice is alluded to; which was situated upon the summit of a mountain, and in the vicinity of the sea.

* * * * *

OB, OUB, PYTHO,

SIVE DE

OPHIOLATRIA.

[Greek: Para panti ton nomizomenon par' humin Theon Ophis sumbolon mega
kai musterion anagraphetai.] Justin. Martyr. Apolog. l. 1. p. 60.

It may seem extraordinary, that the worship of the serpent should have ever been introduced into the world: and it must appear still more remarkable, that it should almost universally have prevailed. As mankind are said to have been ruined through the influence of this being, we could little expect that it would, of all other objects, have been adopted, as the most sacred and salutary symbol; and rendered the chief object of [451]adoration. Yet so we find it to have been. In most of the antient rites there is some allusion to the [452]serpent. I have taken notice, that in the Orgies of Bacchus, the persons who partook of the ceremony used to carry serpents in their hands, and with horrid screams called upon Eva, Eva. They were often crowned with [453]serpents, and still made the same frantic exclamation. One part of the mysterious rites of Jupiter Sabazius was to let a snake slip down the bosom of the person to be initiated, which was taken out below[454]. These ceremonies, and this symbolic worship, began among the Magi, who were the sons of Chus: and by them they were propagated in various parts. Epiphanius thinks, that the invocation, Eva, Eva, related to the great [455]mother of mankind, who was deceived by the serpent: and Clemens of Alexandria is of the same opinion. He supposes, that by this term was meant [456][Greek: Euan ekeinen, di' hen he plane parekolouthese.] But I should think, that Eva was the same as Eph, Epha, Opha, which the Greeks rendered [Greek: Ophis], Ophis, and by it denoted a serpent. Clemens acknowledges, that the term Eva properly aspirated had such a signification. [457][Greek: To onoma to Euia dasunomenon hermeneuetai Ophis.] Olympias, the mother of [458]Alexander, was very fond of these Orgies, in which the serpent was introduced. Plutarch mentions, that rites of this sort were practised by the Edonian women near mount Haemus in Thrace; and carried on to a degree of madness. Olympias copied them closely in all their frantic manoeuvres. She used to be followed with many attendants, who had each a thyrsus with [459]serpents twined round it. They had also snakes in their hair, and in the chaplets, which they wore; so that they made a most fearful appearance. Their cries were very shocking: and the whole was attended with a continual repetition of the words, [460]Evoe, Saboe, Hues Attes, Attes Hues, which were titles of the God Dionusus. He was peculiarly named [Greek: Hues]; and his priests were the Hyades, and Hyantes. He was likewise styled Evas. [461][Greek: Euas ho Dionusos.]

In Egypt was a serpent named Thermuthis, which was looked upon as very sacred; and the natives are said to have made use of it as a royal tiara, with which they ornamented the statues of [462]Isis. We learn from Diodorus Siculus, that the kings of Egypt wore high bonnets, which terminated in a round ball: and the whole was surrounded with figures of [463]asps. The priests likewise upon their bonnets had the representation of serpents. The antients had a notion, that when Saturn devoured his own children, his wife Ops deceived him by substituting a large stone in lieu of one of his sons, which stone was called Abadir. But Ops, and Opis, represented here as a feminine, was the serpent Deity, and Abadir is the same personage under a different denomination. [464]Abadir Deus est; et hoc nomine lapis ille, quem Saturnus dicitur devorasse pro Jove, quem Graeci [Greek: baitulon] vocant.--Abdir quoque et Abadir [Greek: baitulos]. Abadir seems to be a variation of Ob-Adur, and signifies the serpent God Orus. One of these stones, which Saturn was supposed to have swallowed instead of a child, stood, according to [465]Pausanias, at Delphi. It was esteemed very sacred, and used to have libations of wine poured upon it daily; and upon festivals was otherwise honoured. The purport of the above history I imagine to have been this. It was for a long time a custom to offer children at the altar of Saturn: but in process of time they removed it, and in its room erected a [Greek: stulos], or stone pillar; before which they made their vows, and offered sacrifices of another nature. This stone, which they thus substituted, was called Ab-Adar, from the Deity represented by it. The term Ab generally signifies a [466]father: but, in this instance, it certainly relates to a serpent, which was indifferently styled Ab, Aub, and [467]Ob. I take Abadon, or, as it is mentioned in the Revelations, Abaddon, to have been the name of the same Ophite God, with whose worship the world had been so long infected. He is termed by the Evangelist [468][Greek: Abaddon, ton Angelon tes Abussou], the angel of the bottomless pit; that is, the prince of darkness. In another place he is described as the [469]dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan. Hence I think, that the learned Heinsius is very right in the opinion, which he has given upon this passage; when he makes Abaddon the same as the serpent Pytho. Non dubitandum est, quin Pythius Apollo, hoc est spurcus ille spiritus, quem Hebraei Ob, et Abaddon, Hellenistae ad verbum [Greek: Apolluona], caeteri [Greek: Apollona], dixerunt, sub hac forma, qua miseriam humano generi invexit, primo cultus[470].

It is said, that, in the ritual of Zoroaster, the great expanse of the heavens, and even nature itself, was described under the symbol of a serpent[471]. The like was mentioned in the Octateuch of Ostanes: and moreover, that in Persis and in other parts of the east they erected temples to the serpent tribe, and held festivals to their honour, esteeming them [472][Greek: Theous tous megistous, kai archegous ton holon], _the supreme of all Gods, and the superintendants of the whole world_. The worship began among the people of Chaldea. They built the city Opis upon the [473]Tigris, and were greatly addicted to divination, and to the worship of the serpent[474]. Inventi sunt ex iis (Chaldeis) augures, et magi, divinatores, et sortilegi, et inquirentes Ob, et Ideoni. From Chaldea the worship passed into Egypt, where the serpent Deity was called Can-oph, Can-eph, and C'neph. It had also the name of Ob, or Oub, and was the same as the Basiliscus, or Royal Serpent; the same also as the Thermuthis: and in like manner was made use of by way of ornament to the statues of their [475]Gods. The chief Deity of Egypt is said to have been Vulcan, who was also styled Opas, as we learn from [476]Cicero. He was the same as Osiris, the Sun; and hence was often called Ob-El, sive Pytho Sol: and there were pillars sacred to him with curious hieroglyphical inscriptions, which had the same name. They were very lofty, and narrow in comparison of their length; hence among the Greeks, who copied from the Egyptians, every thing gradually tapering to a point was styled Obelos, and Obeliscus. Ophel (Oph-El) was a name of the same purport: and I have shewn, that many sacred mounds, or Tapha, were thus denominated from the serpent Deity, to whom they were sacred.

Sanchoniathon makes mention of an history, which he once wrote upon the worship of the serpent. The title of this work, according to Eusebius was, [477]Ethothion, or Ethothia. Another treatise upon the same subject was written by Pherecydes Syrus, which was probably a copy of the former; for he is said to have composed it, [478][Greek: para Phoinikon labon tas aphormas], _from some previous accounts of the Phenicians_. The title of his book was the Theology of Ophion, styled Ophioneus; and of his worshippers, called Ophionidae. Thoth, and Athoth, were certainly titles of the Deity in the Gentile world: and the book of Sanchoniathon might very possibly have been from hence named Ethothion, or more truly Athothion. But from the subject, upon which it was written, as well as from the treatise of Pherecydes, I should think, that Athothion, or Ethothion, was a mistake for Ath-ophion, a title which more immediately related to that worship, of which the writer treated. _Ath_ was a sacred title, as I have shewn: and I imagine, that this dissertation did not barely relate to the serpentine Deity; but contained accounts of his votaries, the Ophitae, the principal of which were the sons of Chus. The worship of the Serpent began among them; and they were from thence denominated Ethopians, and Aithopians, which the Greeks rendered [Greek: Aithiopes]. It was a name, which they did not receive from their complexion, as has been commonly surmised; for the branch of Phut, and the Lubim, were probably of a deeper die: but they were so called from Ath-Ope, and Ath-Opis, the God which they worshipped. This may be proved from Pliny. He says that the country AEthiopia (and consequently the people) had the name of AEthiop from a personage who was a Deity--ab [479]AEthiope Vulcani filio. The AEthiopes brought these rites into Greece: and called the island, where they first established them, [480]Ellopia, Solis Serpentis insula. It was the same as Euboea, a name of the like purport; in which island was a region named AEthiopium. Euboea is properly Oub-Aia; and signifies the Serpent Island. The same worship prevailed among the Hyperboreans, as we may judge from the names of the sacred women, who used to come annually to Delos. They were priestesses of the Tauric Goddess, and were denominated from her titles.

[481][Greek: Oupis te, Loxo te, kai Euaion Hekaerge.]

Hercules was esteemed the chief God, the same as Chronus; and was said to have produced the Mundane egg. He was represented in the Orphic Theology under the mixed symbol of a [482]lion and serpent: and sometimes of a [483]serpent only. I have before mentioned, that the Cuthites under the title of Heliadae settled at Rhodes: and, as they were Hivites or Ophites, that the island in consequence of it was of old named Ophiusa. There was likewise a tradition, that it had once swarmed with [484]serpents. The like notion prevailed almost in every place, where they settled. They came under the more general titles of Leleges and Pelasgi: but more particularly of Elopians, Europians, Oropians, Asopians, Inopians, Ophionians, and AEthiopes, as appears from the names, which they bequeathed; and in most places, where they resided, there were handed down traditions, which alluded to their original title of Ophites. In Phrygia, and upon the Hellespont, whither they sent out colonies very early, was a people styled [Greek: Ophiogeneis], or the serpent-breed; who were said to retain an affinity and correspondence with [485]serpents. And a notion prevailed, that some hero, who had conducted them, was changed from a serpent to a man. In Colchis was a river Ophis; and there was another of the same name in Arcadia. It was so named from a body of people, who settled upon its banks, and were said to have been conducted by a serpent: [486][Greek: Ton hegemona genesthai drakonta]. These reptiles are seldom found in islands, yet Tenos, one of the Cyclades, was supposed to have once swarmed with them. [487][Greek: En tei Tenoi, miai ton Kukladon nesoi, opheis kai skorpioi deinoi eginonto.] Thucydides mentions a people of AEtolia called [488]Ophionians: and the temple of Apollo at Patara in Lycia seems to have had its first institution from a priestess of the same [489]name. The island of Cyprus was styled Ophiusa, and Ophiodes, from the serpents, with which it was supposed to have [490]abounded. Of what species they were is no where mentioned; excepting only that about Paphos there was said to have been a [491]kind of serpent with two legs. By this is meant the Ophite race, who came from Egypt, and from Syria, and got footing in this [492]island. They settled also in Crete, where they increased greatly in numbers; so that Minos was said by an unseemly allegory, [493][Greek: opheis ouresai], serpentes minxisse. The island Seriphus was one vast rock, by the Romans called [494]saxum seriphium; and made use of as a larger kind of prison for banished persons. It is represented as having once abounded with serpents; and it is styled by Virgil _serpentifera_, as the passage is happily corrected by Scaliger.

[495]AEginamque simul, serpentiferamque Seriphon.

It had this epithet not on account of any real serpents, but according to the Greeks from [496]Medusa's head, which was brought hither by Perseus. By this is meant the serpent Deity, whose worship was here introduced by people called Peresians. Medusa's head denoted divine wisdom: and the island was sacred to the serpent as is apparent from its name[497]. The Athenians were esteemed Serpentigenae; and they had a tradition, that the chief guardian of their Acropolis was a [498]serpent. It is reported of the Goddess Ceres, that she placed a dragon for a guardian to her temple at [499]Eleusis; and appointed another to attend upon Erectheus. AEgeus of Athens, according to Androtion, was of the [500]serpent breed: and the first king of the country is said to have been [501][Greek: Drakon], a Dragon. Others make Cecrops the first who reigned. He is said to have been [502][Greek: diphues], _of a twofold nature_; [Greek: sumphues echon soma andros kai drakontos], _being formed with the body of a man blended with that of a serpent_. Diodorus says, that this was a circumstance deemed by the Athenians inexplicable: yet he labours to explain it, by representing Cecrops, as half a man, and half a [503]brute; because he had been of two different communities. Eustathius likewise tries to solve it nearly upon the same principles, and with the like success. Some had mentioned of Cecrops, that he underwent a metamorphosis, [504][Greek: apo opheos eis anthropon elthein], _that he was changed from a serpent to a man_. By this was signified according to Eustathius, that Cecrops, by coming into Hellas, divested himself of all the rudeness and barbarity of his [505]country, and became more civilized and humane. This is too high a compliment to be payed to Greece in its infant state, and detracts greatly from the character of the Egyptians. The learned Marsham therefore animadverts with great justice. [506]Est verisimilius ilium ex AEgypto mores magis civiles in Graeciam induxisse. _It is more probable, that he introduced into Greece, the urbanity of his own country, than that he was beholden to Greece for any thing from thence._ In respect to the mixed character of this personage, we may, I think, easily account for it. Cecrops was certainly a title of the Deity, who was worshipped under this [507]emblem. Something of the like nature was mentioned of Triptolemus, and [508]Ericthonius: and the like has been said above of Hercules. The natives of Thebes in Boeotia, like the Athenians above, esteemed themselves of the serpent race. The Lacedaemonians likewise referred themselves to the same original. Their city is said of old to have swarmed with [509]serpents. The same is said of the city Amyclae in Italy, which was of Spartan original. They came hither in such abundance, that it was abandoned by the [510]inhabitants. Argos was infested in the same manner, till Apis came from Egypt, and settled in that city. He was a prophet, the reputed son of Apollo, and a person of great skill and sagacity. To him they attributed the blessing of having their country freed from this evil.

[511][Greek: Apis gar elthon ek peras Naupaktias,]
[Greek: Iatromantis, pais Apollonos, chthona]
[Greek: Ten d' ekkathairei knodalon brotophthoron.]

Thus the Argives gave the credit to this imaginary personage of clearing their land of this grievance: but the brood came from the very quarter from whence Apis was supposed to have arrived. They were certainly Hivites from Egypt: and the same story is told of that country. It is represented as having been of old over-run with serpents; and almost depopulated through their numbers. Diodorus Siculus seems to understand this [512]literally: but a region, which was annually overflowed, and that too for so long a season, could not well be liable to such a calamity. They were serpents of another nature, with which it was thus infested: and the history relates to the Cuthites, the original Ophitae, who for a long time possessed that country. They passed from Egypt to Syria, and to the Euphrates: and mention is made of a particular breed of serpents upon that river, which were harmless to the natives, but fatal to every body else. [513]This, I think, cannot be understood literally. The wisdom of the serpent may be great; but not sufficient to make these distinctions. These serpents were of the same nature as the [514]birds of Diomedes, and the dogs in the temple of Vulcan: and these histories relate to Ophite priests, who used to spare their own people, and sacrifice strangers, a custom which prevailed at one time in most parts of the world. I have mentioned that the Cuthite priests were very learned: and as they were Ophites, whoever had the advantage of their information, was said to have been instructed by serpents. Hence there was a tradition, that Melampus was rendered prophetic from a communication with these [515]animals. Something similar is said of Tiresias.